Judge Delays U.S. Rule on Community College Tests : Education: He questions whether it applies to enrollees not seeking federal aid. Regulation is designed to reduce defaults on student loans among those without high school diplomas.

A federal judge Wednesday temporarily blocked a controversial new regulation that could require the testing of tens of thousands of students without high school diplomas before they could be admitted to California community colleges.

U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen found there were “serious legal questions” over whether the federal requirement could be applied to students who did not seek federal financial aid.

Jensen barred such testing and forbade authorities from denying federal assistance to the colleges until at least Jan. 14, when another hearing will be held on the matter.

The regulation at issue was devised by federal education officials under new federal law, scheduled to take effect Tuesday, intended to reduce the default rate on federal-backed loans to students who drop out of school and never repay their debt.

The rule required students without a diploma or its equivalent to pass independently administered exams before admission, whether or not they sought federal aid. Failure to comply with the law could cost the 107-college system $283 million in federal aid.

State authorities reiterated their fears Wednesday that the sweeping testing requirements would destroy California’s long-held “open-door” policy that allows students to enroll at the two-year institutions regardless of their academic record. Students without diplomas are admitted if they are found to have the “ability to benefit” from a community college education. They may continue in school as long as they pass courses.

Both state Community Colleges Chancellor David Mertes and state Deputy Atty. Gen. Jose R. Guerrero welcomed Wednesday’s 12-day judicial reprieve, saying it would give California officials time to file additional legal papers and press their campaign to overturn the testing requirement.

Mertes was to leave for Washington to confer with Congressional leaders on the possibility of an amendment to the new law. “This state has always been very proud of its open-access policy,” the chancellor told reporters. “ . . . The (regulation) will cause a major problem.”

According to Mertes, about 90,000 community college students lack a diploma or an equivalency certificate. About 25% of those students receive federal financial aid. The state’s 1.5-million student system makes up one-quarter of all the community college students in the nation, he said.

The chancellor said it would be virtually impossible to review the records of the affected students and arrange for independent testing as quarterly and semester enrollment begins in the next few weeks. Among other things, he noted that officials expect a “wave” of students under federal immigration amnesty programs whose education records would be difficult to verify.

Roger Murphy, a spokesman for the Department of Education in Washington, declined to comment on Jensen’s order, saying only that officials stand ready to “act in an appropriate manner” to resolve the dispute.

In its lawsuit filed last week against federal education officials, the community college system argued that the department had misconstrued the new law by requiring testing of all students without diplomas. Only “those students wishing to be eligible for any federal grant, loan or work assistance program” should be required to pass an entrance exam approved by the department, the suit contended.

The system was not informed of this interpretation of the law until Dec. 17, the suit said, far too late to conduct the required testing.

In court Wednesday, Guerrero appeared to concede that, with adequate notice, the department could require tests of all students. But after the hearing, the attorney said the state would stand by its contention that the tests could be required only of loan and grant applicants.

In reply, the government, in papers submitted by U.S. Department of Justice attorney Bonnie Osler, urged Jensen not to block implementation of the law. The statute properly applies to all students without diplomas and represents a legitimate effort to curb the “widespread abuse” of federal programs by educational institutions and the “skyrocketing rate of default” on student loans, the government brief said.

Osler told Judge Jensen Wednesday that the state, if pressed for time, could still readily comply with the testing requirement during the next three months by designating affected students as “non-regular” enrollees until they have passed a department-approved examination.

BACKGROUND

California community college students have long been admitted to campuses even though they lack a high school diploma or an equivalency certificate. Under a new federal law aimed at reducing federal loan defaults, officials are seeking to require independently administered tests of such students before they can be enrolled. California officials are fighting the requirement in a lawsuit, contending that the new rule would destroy the state’s open-admissions policy.